The present invention generally relates to lawn mowers and, more specifically, to lawn mowers having wear-resistant decks.
Lawn mowers typically have a housing or deck in which a cutting blade cuts the lawn. The lawn mower decks rapidly wear out in areas having lawns with sand intermixed in the soil. The sand or other material is thrown from the cutting blades against the interior surface of the decks and tends to abrade or "sand-blast" the decks until holes are worn completely through the decks. In areas having little or no sand in the soil, such as Midwest portions of the U.S., mower decks can be used for about 800 or more hours without wearing out. In areas having sand in the soil, the life of the deck depends on the sand type, the amount of sand in the soil, and the density of the lawn. In some areas of South Carolina, mower decks wear out after about 230 hours. In some areas of Florida, mower decks wear out in as little as 60-150 hours resulting in replacement of the decks as many as two times per year. Accordingly, there is a need for increasing the life of mower decks.